Background

A global faith with worldwide contributions

Since its advent in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century, Islam has become a truly global faith. With an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims around the world (about 23.2% of the world’s population), Islam is the world’s second-largest religious tradition after Christianity.

A recent Pew Research Center report projects that Muslims will grow more than twice as fast as the overall world population between 2010 and 2050 and, in the second half of this century, will likely surpass Christians as the world’s largest religious group. Learn more in Why Muslims are the World’s Fastest-growing Religious Group.

As illustrated by the award-winning international exhibit 1001 Inventions, the Islamic world has made inestimable contributions to nearly every field of human knowledge, including:

mathematics

medicine

chemistry

geometry

agriculture

hydrology

textiles

ceramics

optics

art & architecture

engineering

cartography

navigation

astronomy

sociology

historiography

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Improving Christian-Muslim relations

In the contemporary religious, political and economic global environment it is clear that knowledge of and dialogue with the Muslim world is a necessity for global stability and peace.

Pope Francis demonstrated his commitment to improving relations between Christians and Muslims in November of 2014, as he prayed in Istanbul’s historic Blue Mosque and visited the Hagia Sophia — two powerful symbols of the Muslim and Christian faiths. Learn more.